Improvement in harvesters



l the machine.

`ordinary carriage-wheels.

WALTER A. WOOD, OF HOOSICK FALLS, NEW YORK.

IlVl PROVEM ENT `l N HARVESTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 7l ,832, dated December 3, 1867.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, WALTER A. WOOD, of Hoosick Falls, in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grass-Mowing or Harvesting Machines 5 and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descript-ion of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specication, in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal vertical section through the machine. Fig. 3 represents a section through the inner shoe and the fin ger-bar and spring, oriiexible connect-in gpiece, toshow their attachment to each other,

the front end of the frame downward and the and on an enlarged scale.

Myinvention relates to the manner in which I unite the 'finger-bar and cutting apparatus to the main frame, which carries the gearing, by means of the inner shoe and flexible or spring connection.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the saine with reference to the drawings.

Ais a main axle, upon u hicli are placed the two driving and supporting wheels B B, said wheels turning independent of the axle, like l G is a rectangular main frame, firmly connected to the main axle A, so that it can only turn as the axle turns in its supporting wheels. The wheels B are furnished with internal gears, D, for giving motion to the sickle, as will be described.

On the rear portion of the main frame, and

' on the top thereof, is hung, in suitable boxes or bearings, a shaft, E, which carries at each of its ends a drum, F, that has an internal ratchet, a, in it, and a spurgear wheel, b, on

its outside, which gears with the drive-wheel on that side of the machine. The drums F are loose on the axleor shaft E, but are made to turn with it, under certain circumstances,

by means of a pawl that takes into the ratchetteeth thereof.

`On the shaft E, so as to come within the drums F and be protected by them, there are secured, in a permanent manner, to the shaft E, two blocks, G G, which blocks have pawls c cpivoted to them, that are, by means of springs d d, held into action with the ratchets a a, the inclination of the ratchets-and pawls being such that as the machine moves forward the drums will be held fast to and turn with fthe shaft E, butwhen moved backward the ratchets will slip over or p'ast the pawls, the

springs d readily yieldiu g for this purpose.

The pawls c c have pins e set in them, and

upon the shaft E are hung loose hooks, which `will take over said pins and hold Vthe p awls out of gear with the ratchets, and thus the machine may be moved from ield to field without running the gearing. 'On the shaft E there is fastened a bevel-cog wheel, H, that turns a bevel-pinion, I, on a shaft, J, which extends forward and has upon its forward end a crankwheel, K, which imparts motion, through the pitman Z, to the cutters. The inclination of rear end upward brings the crank-wheel Kin a desirable position for driving the knife, and

elevates the gearing sufficiently to be out of A the way of catching the grass, and thus prevents its winding up thereon'.

M is a slice or ruimer, the rear of which is suspended to theaxle A by a stirrup-strap, N,

`that will allow it somevertieal motion or play.

An extension ba-r, O, made ofat springsteel, or some other elastic substance of suiicient strength, is secured to the stubble side ofthe main frame, and on the under side thereof, near the front outer corner, and on a line or nearly so with the finger-bar, and, curving downward toward the shoe M, ts into a recess, 2, Fig. 3, formed inthe shoe. A dowelpin, 3, formed in the shoe and in the recess, passing through that end of the extension-bar, gives 4it a firin position 4in the shoe. The finger-bar P is then laid in its recess, and overlies this end of the extension bar O, and by passing through the shoe and through the finger-bar the screw g, and running down the nut h, a firm union of the finger-bar, extensionbar, and shoe is made, and thus the cutting apparatus is joined to the main frame, which supports the gearing, laterally by the yielding spring connection, and longitudinally by the stirrup at the rear of the shoe, passing over the axle; or, if desirable, a stud can be inserted into the edge of the frame to receive it; but I prefer to pass the stirrup over the axle. With this arrangement, the shoe, together with the cutting apparatus, has to a certain degree the property of yielding up and down independent of the up-and-down movement of the main frame, causing thereby the finger-bar and cutters more readily to conform to the inequalities of the ground, and more effectually to withstand the sudden shocks incident to ruiming against' fixed obstacles. At the junction of this spring extension-bar with the shoe a hin ge or joint is interposed, as shown at Fig. 3.

That part of the extension-bar which comes in contact with the shoe and underlies the finger-bar projects just far enough to have an eye turned upon it, close to the iron shoe.h

The other part of the extension-bar is made so as to hinge onto this eye, having ears welded to each side and turned over,and, wh en astride the eye, a b olt is passed through the two in the ordinary way. This arrangement, in connection with the stirrup-connection of the main shoe to the axle, allows the shoe to turn or roll in the line of its length, and the fingerbar and cutters, to a certain degree, to rise above or fall below a horizontal plane, and independent of the up and down motions ofthe driving-wheels, and thereby the fin ger-bar and cutters are caused' to follow more closely the unequal surfaces of the ground than they could have done had not the hinge in the extension-bar been interposed.-

The washer i, between the nut and fingerbar, is of considerable breadth, and affords a back bearing to the sickle-hagas also Ia top support, to keep it from rising from the lingerbar. The sickle-bar rests and runs upon the finger-bar, and the flanges on the guards j close up the space in front of the sickle bar, in order to prevent the working of grass or other material under the sickle-bar.

Q is an outside shoe; R, a track-cleaner hinged thereto, having a handle, S, for the purpose of raising it and for separating more perfectly the cut from the uncut crop. T is a seat and tongue plate, cast in one piece, through which t-he aXle passes, and to whichy the tongue is bolted, and which is furnishedwith sockets for the reception of the seatstandards. This seat and tongue-plate turns freely upon the axle, and at its forward end is pivoted the-lever V for raising and lowering the cutters. This lever is a right-angled lever, or nearly so, with its long arm extending nearly vertical, while its short arm extends forward.

A chain is attached to the end of the short arm, which extends to the point of the shoe, whichallows the driver, by grasping the long arm, to readily raise the shoe and finger-bar, the main frame tilting' upon the axle; and when raised, it can he held there by the notches on the standard X catching the staple u on lever V. The short armV rests upon a support, s, fastened to the under side of the pole U, and the distance that the shoe can be dropped is determined by the length of the chain which connects the short arm V' of the lever with the shoe. Y

' VViththis mode of construction, it is plain that, the gearing being placed in rear of the axle, the working of the gear tends to crowd down the front end of the frame, as also does .the draft, the pole being connected to the axle,

and the frame tilting thereon, with the fingerbar in front 5 consequently the finger-bar and shoe are pressed hard upon the ground. On uneven ground, like ridge and furrow, this pressure tends to elevate the outer end ofthe linger-bar when the shoe passes into a depression. Itis to obviate this difficulty that the hinge is interposed, as heretofore described, which, together with the stirrup at the rear of the shoe, allows sufficient turning to obvia-te the difijculty, although the finger-bar cannot turn up t0 a vertical position.

Having thus fully described the nature and object of my improvement, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,isl

l. Connecting' the linger-bar and cutting apparatus of a mowing machine to the main frame thereof by a yielding or spring connection, bolted .rigidly at one end to the Vfront outer corner of the main frame, and hinged at the other end directly to the shoe-piece which supports the finger-bar and cutting apparatus.

2. The use, in a mowing-machine, of a shoepiece or runner, which supports the ngerbeam and cutting apparatus, when said shoepiece is held in place at its rear end by a stirrup or loop passing over an axle, and is held laterally by a yielding spring connection, hinged at its lower end to the shoe, and bolted at its upper end to the front outer corner of the main frame.

WALTER A. WOOD.

Witnesses:

C. A. CHENEY, J. W. ScHENcK. 

